Echoes of Our Worlds
by JustaSortaSpyder
Summary: After a break from their guardian duties the girls are thrown into the deep end as a mysterious figure attacks them, and Will disappears. Can the girls get on well enough with her replacement to discover the Hags plans, or will the Guardians be destroyed?
1. Chapter 1

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Enjoy!

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**Prologue**

It was dark. No lights filtered out the brooding houses, and the streetlamps were twisted and decaying. Even the stars had given up and gone away, a heavy storm growing angry in the night. Everything hid as evil brooded, a silence to unnerve the most confident of people.

But there was one, with a heart dark enough to make black hole pale in comparison. She stood, in the middle of the street in her grey rags, head down and muttering to herself, seeming to fade to ghost like transparency and back.

From the thick bushes, she was watched, the figure glancing around, waiting for a signal, a sign, all the time trying to decipher the Hags work.

The Hag jerked, raising her arms and chanting faster, louder, whipping up a breeze that growled to her words, and with a pulse had gone, leaving the ghost like form of the Hag, frozen yet still moving.

For the first time, there were another few figures on the street, ghost like and trying to fight the Hag. The watcher stifled a gasp as a blast from the Hag knocked four down, and the Hag focused her spell on the nearest one.

"NO!!" The watcher broke cover, dashing across to the Hag, her way lit up by a bright flash followed by an ear busting rumble of thunder. "HAG!" The Hag looked around to see the watcher, followed by four others, and managed to raise her hands as she was tackled to the floor. There was a huge flash and they were gone, four teenagers landing heavily to one side. They watched the pink jewel fall as if in slow motion, before it landed next to a strange figure on the floor.

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter One**

_For the past few days the Oracle has been troubled, unable to define the future as clearly as normal, with more and more uncertainties arising. He says he senses great change, and that you should warn the guardians to be ready. _

"Ready for what my friend?" Yan Lin sighed "You cannot fight without knowing your enemy, and you cannot make a chicken feast if you don't have a recipe." Yan Lin winced at the memory. "That is the last time I'm letting that girl near the kitchen."

"Grandma!" Hay Lin burst into the room, sending a million things flying in her haste. "You've got to come quick; Irma's threatening to make brownies!"

"Are the others here?" Hay Lin nodded.

"And Matt."

"Ok. I'll meet you in the basement, and tell that girl that patience provides, and that if she even contemplates cooking anything in this restaurant again, I will ensure that it's Blunk who cooks anything for her in the future, clear?"

Hay Lin nodded, and a moment later there was a yell of disgust and a loud crash from the kitchen. Yan Lin raised her eyes at Hay Lin, who smiled.

"Come on, let's go meet the others."

It was chaos down in the basement. Irma was ranting on about it being inhumane to threaten anyone with Blunk food, Cornelia for once was agreeing with her, Matt was in hysterics, and Will and Taranee were seeing how worked up they could get Irma without the place being flooded. Hay Lin smiled to herself. These were the guardians of the infinite dimensions? It was good to see a bit of normality between disasters. It'd been over a month ago they'd defeated Nerissa, and her minions; Phobos, and his minions; Cedric, and his girlfriend, and they'd had a blissful break from fighting evil, and school.

They hadn't transformed for a while, since they became their elements to defeat Cedric, and they nearly didn't return from it. They still made a good team though: Will controlling Quintessence, which is like lightening, and is also the leader of the group and could make electrical appliances talk; Irma who controlled water, and had mind control; Taranee, smart Taranee with her control over fire and oh so useful telepathy; blonde Cornelia controlling earth, boys, telekinesis and loved shopping; and Hay Lin, Air and invisibility. Unfortunately the others had stopped leaping a mile when she snuck up on them.

Oh, and Matt. He was a regent of the Heart of Earth, and Will's boyfriend.

"Guys!" Hay Lin sighed as no one heard her. She tried telepathy.

"_Taranee?"_

"_OI! GUYS! SHUT UP!" _

The room suddenly went quiet, the girls looking at Taranee, only Matt still giggling in the background, before a well placed elbow and glare silenced him.

"Gran says the restaurant's full and it's going to be a good hour and a half before we can be fed. She says we ought to get out and about, so we could head to the park."

"She's chucking us out?" Cornelia exclaimed.

"Err yes." They all glared at Irma.

"Hey! What you blaming me for? I didn't fill the restaurant!" Will cut across before it could disintegrate into a full blown argument.

"Guys, we may as well go. There's no point staying here if we're going to be in the way, and it would be good just to go and relax."

"Plus I don't think I could survive for that long with the smell of all that lovely food and not have any for myself." They looked at Matt. "What? I'm a growing lad."

"With band practise."

"Oh…" Matt dashed for the exit. "See Yah!" They gazed after him for a second.

"Come on, let's move."

A little while later Yan Lin came down into the basement.

"Girls I forgot to… Oh." She looked around the empty room and sighed, before putting the letter on the table, and heading back to the cooking.

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Next chapter up soon! All feedback welcomed.

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	2. Chapter 2

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon and Rain on Roses for reviewing.

Here's the next chapter, so enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Two**

W.I.T.C.H relaxed on a bench in the park, Hay Lin busy sketching the scenery, Irma and Cornelia having a stone skimming competition, which had rapidly degraded into a competition of who could cheat the most.

Will glanced over to see that they were ok, as Cornelia's stone bounced viciously through the water, curving back towards Irma who simply got the water to pull it down. They were fine. Back to math.

"Soo… Trig?" Will tried to smile optimistically, and failed. "Why does the world need me to do math? Isn't saving it on a regular basis enough?"

"It can wait Will." Taranee put the book in her bag. "To be honest it's such a nice evening even I don't feel like doing any more math."

Will breathed a sigh on relief and punched the air.

"What?" Irma hurried over, with her 'I'm trying to be serious, really' face. "The smart one doesn't feel like doing math? Are you feeling ok? You're not coming down with something? Cold? Flu? An uncontrollable desire to beat up Lurdens, or is that just me?"

"Irma!" But she couldn't help it, and fell about laughing with the rest of them, in the peaceful rays of the setting sun. Everything was perfect.

The laughter was dying down when Will gasped and her hand flew to her chest. Taranee picked up on it immediately.

"Will?"

Will stayed quiet and drew out the heart, the others slowly drawing closer.

"I think it was this, but I don't..."

"Did you guys see that?" Taranee exclaimed, and the others looked up in puzzlement.

"What?"

"It twitched. Look! There it went again."

The team watched the heart for a moment, and it undeniably twitched again.

"It's kind of aiming that way. What's over there?" Hay Lin tried to peer into the distance.

Will meanwhile was studying the heart, which was now trying to float towards whatever that was, but it wasn't showing anything, which was odd. Normally if trouble had come to town, the heart would show them what it was, but this time it remained clear.

"Well, I think we ought to find out. Come on." She followed the heart, with the others close behind.

A short while later they slowed as they entered another dark, empty street. Will stopped as the heart stopped tugging at its chain. She gazed at it, gave it a quick shake and sighed, looking around. Everything seemed empty and Will shivered. It would be better when there were actually people living in these new houses, she thought.

"_Yeah, then it wouldn't be so deathly quiet."_

"_Taranee, how many times…"_

"_It's perfect place for an ambush. We want to be able to hear anyone creep up on us."_

Will sighed.

"_Yeah, although I'd feel a bit better if we were guardianed up. This place is spookier than Phobos dungeons, or his toilet."_

"_Thank you Irma, I did not want that mental image."_

"_What, this one?"_

The Guardians leapt apart with exclamations of horror, followed quickly by guilty shushing, and looking around to see if anyone heard them. Will carefully held up the heart. The others gave her the thumbs up.

"Guardians Unite!" She whispered, and they transformed into their guardian forms without a fuss.

"'_Kay, let's spread out…"_

"_And search for clues?"_

"_Irma! Focus, we need to work out why the heart brought us here."_

"_No need"_

"_Hay?"_

"Look."

They looked along the lane to where she was pointing. A grey figure now stood in the middle of the road, facing away from them. As one they froze, trying not to attract the attention of the translucent figure.

Will glanced across to Hay Lin who nodded, turned invisible and flew off. With another signal, the remaining guardians took to the air.

"_Is that…" _ Taranee started

"_- a ghost?"_

"_- Nerissa?"_

"_Can't be. Nerissa is trapped, but still alive, and you have to summon ghosts to see them. No, this is someone, something else, an illusion maybe?"_

"_Ok. Hay?"_

"_It's not Nerissa, but she is doing some weird chant thing, so that rules out ghost, and illusion."_

"_Is she friendly?"_

"_I don't oof."_

Will accelerated towards the figure which had solidified and then blasted Hay Lin out the air as they talked. Passing through a barrier of some sort, and dodging one of the attacks- which element was that? - She attacked the witch, knowing that the others were doing the same by her side. As they let loose their attacks the witch merely knocked them out the sky before they'd realised what had happened.

"_Will, Hay's fine. Now we need to get out of here, FAST!"_

"'_Kay"_

Will could just about hear the others slowly edging away, and tried to do the same, but failed. Glancing up she saw the pale face of the witch, pointed and casting her spell at her. She was trapped!

Seeing this her friends readied their own attacks to break the concentration of the witch, but before they had a chance to use them, another ghost like figure darted into view and rugby tackled the seemingly frozen and once again ghost like witch. They disappeared with a flash, only the quiet tinkle of the heart on the ground confirming the worst.

Will had gone.

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	3. Chapter 3

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon and Rain on Roses for once again reviewing.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Three**

It was big and ugly, nestling at the end of the cave like a huge metallic spider. It clicked round, a hundred hundred cogs measuring the pace of the universe, glinting domes flinging stars and constellations on the ceiling, building more energy from their every movement. The monstrosity almost seemed to warp the cave, dragging it back into the depths of the mountain. The cave itself hummed with magic, bright with no means of lighting, the walls and ceiling smooth, pale and untainted, despite being damp to the touch.

In its center two figures desperately grappled, hauling each other around, one trying to throw the other, the other younger one hanging on. Everything was eerily quiet, except for a faint echoing shout of 'Hag!' bounding off the rock walls. With a surprising show of strength, the witch flung the younger attacker away, sending her staggering into an alcove. She gestured towards it, and a flash of magic leapt across the cave, sealing the teenager in. She gingerly picked herself up and prodded the unseen barrier. The witch wandered over and the two talked, the teenager pacing up and down, and pointing at the witch accusingly. She paused briefly to listen, glaring at the witch. She sat down her glare quickly replaced by a familiar look of utter boredom, not uncommon in schools, as the witch went into lecture mode. Looking round, she looked past the witch and locked eyes.

_I see you…_her look said, _I see you. _

Then everything faded to darkness.

Will came round with a splitting headache and an aching backside where she'd landed on the tarmac. She heard footsteps come towards her, and felt someone pick something up by her head. It made a soft tinkle. What'd happened? Park, housing, witch, the spell. The Heart!

Will sat up with a gasp, one hand flying to her chest- It wasn't there. Her eyes fixed on the startled black haired girl in front of her, who was holding the Heart.

"The Heart!" She reached for it, but faltered. The familiar pink gem hand two thick bands of grey and blue running around inside it. "No, no…" Will stood unsteadily, having a good look at the four people in front of her. She didn't know them. Her friends should be here, it was the right street…

"No No NO!" Will looked around in horror. It was the same street alright, but the road was potholed, the gardens sprawling, untamed, and the houses were derelict, old and battered. A few further down the street had been gutted by fire. Everything was wrong.

"No! It's not right, it's not right." Will sobbed, the four girls just watching. "Where am I? Where am I? Where…? Where…?" She closed her eyes and swayed on the spot.

"Whoa! Catch her!"

Next thing she knew, she could hear whispering.

"How do you know she even has anything to do with the Hag?"

"I don't! But, Sarah disappears and she turns up- What do you think happened?"

"The Hag happened! You saw what she was doing!"

"That's the thing- We don't know what she was doing, what she's done, or if we can reverse it."

"Guys, she's awake."

Will blinked a couple of times to clear her head and wake up properly, just catching a glimpse of the room she was in, before the four girls crowded round and blocked it out. There was a pause, as if they were waiting for someone to say something glancing at each other as if… One of the girls suddenly grabbed Will, and pulled her close to her face.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sarah?" she demanded. Will just froze.

"IVA! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Finding out what's happened to Sarah." She gave Will a shake and glared at her. "So?" Will still hadn't found her voice, and was still trying to take in Iva's short blue and white striped hair, and her piercing blue eyes. Will gulped.

"Save that for the baddies Iva, not her."

"What's to say she isn't a baddie? She knew about the heart."

"If you'd been paying attention you'd have seen she was trying to fight the Hag! Whatever has happened here is the Hags fault, not hers. Now let her go."

"Fine." Iva dropped Will back on the bed and stormed out the room, pausing briefly to glare at the black haired girl before disappearing down the corridor, another ginger haired girl mouthing a sorry to Will before heading after her. Will let out a long breath and took a look at the two remaining girls. One looked like she could be Cornelia's calmer, less fashion and boy's conscious twin, and the other girl had black hair and green/blue eyes, and she wandered over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi I'm Lizzie- That's short for Elizabeth, but no one calls me that, and I personally gut them when they do. The one trying to throttle you was Iva- Sorry about that, but she's a bit tetchy over Sarah's disappearance: They were best friends. The one that went after her was Laura, just about the only other person who can calm Iva down; and the girl in the corner is Dee" Dee gave Will a wave. "So, now you know who we are, who are you?"

"Will V…" Lizzie cut across her.

"We don't bother with surnames; it helps to keep family safe." Will nodded as she tried to take it all in. Nervously she asked a question that had been playing on her mind.

"W… Where am I?"

"Heatherfield, in our apartment. We all live here, pay the bills, go to school etc. No one complains that a bunch of fourteen year olds live without an adult. In fact, I could swear people are moving just so they can be near us, and further away…" Lizzie wandered over to the window and looked up at the sky. "Clear. I can even see the stars for once." She sighed and came back in. "You better get cleaned up. Bathrooms through there and you can use anything from there. When you're done, come down to the kitchen- left out the bedroom, then second door on the right. Try and remember what happened if you can. 'Kay? The others will want to know what's happened and how you know about the heart. Oh, and don't bother trying to leave. The front doors watched and we're a long way up. "

Will nodded and watched as the two left the room, before heading over to the window herself and looking out over Heatherfield. It looked similar to the place she knew, but at the same time things were so different. The highway ran on the other side of town, there were five star apartments where the most run down part of town was, and if she followed that street, on the corner would be the Silver Dragon. She sighed as she remembered her friends and family. They'd wonder where she'd gone. She'd already tried contacting Taranee by telepathy, and only got static there. She sighed again, knowing in her heart, that although it was like home, it wasn't home. Same but different, same but different. Will let out a scoff as an absurd idea came into her head. Ok. Now she knew she'd seen too many sci-fi movies. With a last look across the city she dropped the blinds, shutting it out. She had stuff to do.

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All feeback welcomed!


	4. Chapter 4

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon and Rain on Roses for once again reviewing.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Four**

They gazed in shock at where Will had been just a moment before, the Heart rolling to a stop. No one moved or spoke for a moment, as they tried to work out why they felt so empty.

Hay Lin made the first move, walking over to the Heart and crouching down beside it, as if company would bring their friend back. Hesitating, she reached out slowly to touch the gem, pulling back at the last minute, somehow spooked by the gems unwavering pink, no images or indication as to where Will had gone, or been taken. Another empty hope. Hay began to cry, rocking back and forth to try and block it out. Will hadn't gone; she didn't want to believe it. Everything had been so good only about half an hour ago. She barely noticed as Cornelia came over and comforted her, though she didn't take her eyes off the Heart for a moment.

Irma watched as air guardian cried, knowing what it meant. She looked around the street, which turned out to be, as she pretty much expected, empty apart from the four guardians. She caught sight of Taranee, eyes shut and frowning in concentration as she tried to contact Will.

"_Will? Will… Will…"_

…

Taranee looked up and shook her head. Irma closed her eyes and looked away, holding back the tears at another broken line. Taranee herself was in shock. She had found nothing, not even the vaguest sense of their friend, a small echo even. She'd completely gone. Biting back a sigh, she joined the other three by the heart.

"What do we do?" Taranee and Cornelia looked at Irma in shock. Even Hay Lin was startled out her sadness. They had never before had heard Irma so depressed, so beaten. But then they realised they didn't know what to do, none of them did.

Taranee sat, deep in thought, absentmindedly fiddling with the chain the Heart normally hung on, getting a jolt as one of her fingers brushed the gem.

"That's it!" The others looked up in surprise as she grabbed the chain and held it up. "We still have the Heart so we still have our powers. We can still teletransport and Hay Lin; you've practised folding before, haven't you?" Hay nodded. "We can use it to find Will!"

"And continue with our normal guardian duties." Added Irma. They were all nodding, glad to have that spark, that something to focus on.

"Yes. We can start off our search for Will here. Hay, take the Heart." Taranee dropped it in Hay Lins hand, before putting her own on top. "If we all focus, I can try to contact Will by telepathy again…"

"But this time it'll be amplified by the power of the Heart!" Cornelia exclaimed.

"In particular by Hay Lins long distance hearing abilities!" Taranee finished. "Irma?" Irma placed her hands on top.

"Let's do it."

"Ok, close your eyes and focus on Will." Taranee could already feel her telepathy was stronger. Closing her eyes she called out.

"_Will…Will…Will…"_

No direct reply returned, but before she was just about to break the link she heard a quiet babble of voices. She opened her eyes, catching a brief glimpse of a ghost like brown haired girl standing behind Hay Lin. She glanced at the other as they opened their eyes as they withdrew from the connection. Taranee looked up again, and no one was there.

"So? Did you get anything?" Cornelia asked. "You're looking a little puzzled and surprised, and it's slightly worrying. So?" Taranee took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I didn't hear Will." Their faces dropped "But" They perked up a bit. "I heard something. Some quiet voices, like the background chat in a restaurant or something. That's odd because I can't get that background noise anywhere else in the city, or anywhere else full stop." Taranee looked round.

"Ok. T you probably can get the background chat anywhere- remember that's the first time we used the Heart to amplify your telepathy- perhaps the voices is just people around here." Taranee almost protested before she realised that Cornelia was right. She needed time to test that theory though, so just nodded. "For now, we're going to head back to the Silver Dragon, and tell Yan Lin what's happened, she might be able to help us. Um, I suggest Hay Lin looks after the Heart for now." Irma and Taranee nodded in agreement, and they headed back to the Silver Dragon.

Yan Lin hadn't realised the girls had returned until Matt came dashing through the restaurant, disturbing the last half dozen customers from their quiet meals. She gazed after Matt and, after a moment's indecision, followed him, pausing at the door to the basement to pick up a scrunched up piece of paper. It was the warning letter from Halinor.

"Girls?" She descended into the basement to see the girls looking decidedly glum, and Matt was holding his head in his hands. But the real clincher was the way the Heart lay on the table, alone and keeperless. "What's wrong? Where's Will?"

Cornelia looked up for a moment from where she was comforting Matt, glancing across the room to see if anyone else wished to tell the story. Taranee had her eyes shut, trying to contact Will for the hundredth time. Hay Lin was busy sketching a picture of the witch and Irma seemed reluctant to make eye contact, glaring at the ground.

"She's gone, but we don't know where. We met this witch…" Yan Lin raised her eyebrows at this, but kept quiet. "Who attacked us, and started casting a spell on Will, and then they disappeared." Cornelia paused.

"Go on."

"The weirdest thing was that when we first saw the witch, she had appeared out of nowhere, and she looked like a ghost. Also, before they disappeared another ghost appeared and attacked the witch. But it was just another teenage girl."

"Where did this happen?"

"Up in the new housing development."

"What were you doing up there?"

"Well we went to the park for a bit, and then the Heart started acting all funny and twitchy and lead us to the housing bit. We guardianed up because the Heart wasn't giving any hints away to what the problem was- no one was around and it was dead quiet. Then the witch appeared and attacked us."

"So the witch appeared after you guardianed up?" Cornelia nodded. "And she was casting a spell on Will?" Another nod. "And the Heart didn't see this witch?"

"Err, yeah."

"Then it is likely that the witch has Will, if they disappeared at the same time. If the Heart could not see the witch, then it stands to reason that whatever powers the witch has blocks the Heart in that way."

"Which would explain why we can't get any image of Will."

"As for leaving the Heart, I believe you were lucky. The witch was forced to leave before she'd completed the spell, leaving the heart behind." Yan Lin looked round at the girls and Matt, and they all looked a bit more hopeful. Matt spoke up.

"If we find this witch, we're likely to find Will then?"

"I believe so, but not tonight. It is late, and your parents will worry." The girls looked at each other.

"Ok. But before I head off, what do we do about Wills family? And the Heart?" Irma pointed out.

"I can sort something out with the regents to solve the Will problem." Matt offered.

"And it's probably best for Hay Lin to look after the Heart for tonight." Yan Lin finished. "We need to tell Candrakar what's occurred. Now go home and have some rest." The other guys nodded and left, muttering their farewells. Hay Lin turned to her Gran.

"Candrakar?"

"Yes and see if you can guardian up."

An Hour or two later Hay Lin finally crawled into bed for a well deserved rest.

"_So? What did the Oracle say?" _ Hay Lin almost jumped a mile, her heart racing.

"_Taranee! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"_

"_No, I just couldn't sleep. So what'd he say?"_

"_Have patience. Night."_

Hay Lin broke the contact and rolled over, leaving a confused Taranee, several miles away, gazing at the ceiling of her room.


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Five**

Will hovered nervously in the doorway of the kitchen before Lizzie spotted her and beckoned her over.

"Hey Will, come join us. Want a coffee?" Will shook her head. "Oh right. Not a coffee person. Shame, more for me then." She smiled briefly before looking at the other three girls who had sat round the table, noting that there was a spare seat next to Iva. Somehow, she wasn't too keen to get within arms reach of that girl after what happened earlier, but Lizzie gave her a reassuring smile, so she sat down.

"Hi." There was an awkward pause as the girls just looked at her, before Lizzie bustled over.

"Right, stuff to do. Girls, this is Will, Will these are the girls. Ok, we've decided that you're at least a neutral player, due to attacking the Hag," Will frowned.

"The Hag?"

"That's what we call her. She never tells us her real name. Anyway you could also be friendly, but that's still to be seen. Let's just say that certain people think you had something to do with the disappearance of our leader." Iva looked at Will briefly. Was that a smirk? Will shivered and looked away. "Anyway, questions." Lizzie paused to drink some coffee, pulling a face of disgust.

"Urgh, Iva! You didn't!" The others giggled as Lizzie put her mug in the sink, quieting down as she returned, glowering. "Ignoring questions like 'Why do you insist on ruining my coffee, Iva?' we drew up what we thought were the three most important questions we wanted to ask you. Where are you from? What happened? And how do you know about the Heart? Ok? Not answering them is not an option I'm afraid, so whenever you're ready, off you go." Will gulped. This was worse than that time she'd had to do a solo performance on stage at school.

"I…"

"Oh wait; before you start I forgot something. Iva!"

"What?" Lizzie looked at her pointedly. "Oh. Will, just to say, I'm sorry about earlier. I was way out of line, and will save the throttling until after you've told us what you've done with Sarah."

"Iva!" Will jumped in before they started arguing.

"No, it's ok. I'd probably be the same if I was in her position." They settled down a bit. "So, answers. I suppose it's easiest to answer your third question first. I know about the heart of Candrakar because I am one of the five guardians of the infinite dimensions." There was an awkward pause, like someone had just told a bad joke.

"How?" The girl with ginger hair spoke up for the first time- Laura. "We are the guardians of the Infinite dimensions." Will looked up.

"Yes, I suppose you are, along with Sarah. The thing is I'm from Heatherfield, but not this Heatherfield. Everything's similar, but different. For example in my world the Heart is completely pink." Iva held up the Heart. "And that estate I turned up in had just been built." The four were frowning.

"So you're from another world?" Dee ventured.

"Nah she can't be." Laura pointed out. "That would come under our protection, like Meridian. It sounds like she's from a different universe, but that's impossible, how'd she get here?"

"The Hag." Will nodded at Lizzie's comment.

"I think so. Back in my Heatherfield, me and the other guardians were in the park relaxing, and then the Heart became all twitchy. We followed it to the estate, where we guardianed up and saw the ghost like apparition of the Hag. The Hag then attacked us, becoming solid when she did. She started casting a spell on me, but another ghost- brown haired girl rugby tackled her, There was this huge surge of power then…"

"You turned up here?" Laura supplied. "We saw the four of you get knocked down- you looked like ghosts. But we have five guardians, do you only have four?"

"No, the fifth one was invisible." Iva narrowed her eyes at that.

"That brown haired girl was Sarah. You saw her attack the Hag, then what? You turned up here."

"Not quite. I remember a cave. Sarah and the Hag were there, fighting, but the Hag managed to trap Sarah, imprison her. The odd thing was, everything seemed muted, and the Hag didn't notice me, but Sarah did. Then I was here." Laura spoke up.

"If the ghost like appearance was an indication of being in transition between the two worlds or near someone who was in transition, that would make sense, as you looked like a ghost on the floor for a little bit. I'm guessing that the Hag's spell was to take you to the cave, but when Sarah attacked the spell wasn't finished, and it sent the Hag back to the cave. But the spell was still strong enough to take you to the cave, but then somehow, you ended up here."

"Do we really believe the whole 'other universe' stuff? I mean, that's just ridiculous." They all looked at Iva. Dee spoke up.

"Well, odder things have happened." They paused for a bit, processing what they'd learnt.

"So the Hag has Sarah, and we have a Guardian from another universe thanks to an awol spell by the Hag. Seems to me that our schedule isn't going to be much different from the past five years: Find the Hag. Any questions?" Silence echoed around the room. "Good. Now go grab some sleep. Iva, you keep hold of the Heart for now." The others left the room. Will sighed. "Thank you for answering the questions Will. It's helped a lot."

"Yeah (!)"

"Hey, at least we vaguely know what's happened. It'll help us predict what the Hag'll do next, and we now know the Hag hides in a cave, so that narrows the search down a tiny bit." Lizzie paused as she noticed that Will didn't look any happier. "I know you miss your friends, but we will try and find out how to get you back as soon as we can. We'll probably go to Meridian and ask Queen Elyon about it tomorrow." Will managed a brief smile. "What?"

"We've got a Queen Elyon of Meridian back in our world."

"I think you'll probably find more similarities and differences between our universes the longer you stay here. For the moment, seeing as you've nowhere else to go, you'll stay with us. Go grab a bit of sleep before the morning, and use the same room you were in earlier. It'll be a long day tomorrow." Will nodded, and headed out, Lizzie gazing after her thoughtfully.


	6. Chapter 6

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Six**

High up in Candrakar, the Oracle was gazing at the aurameres, himself being watched intensely by the cat like person with him.

"I can see your concern Luba, but it presents no present danger to the others."

"It is growing Oracle, and cannot discharge through any other. You know that."

"And I also know what this… condition would also normally mean, yet that is not the case. It is unusual. For the meantime keep an eye on it, and notify me if it presents a danger to the others."

"Very well." Luba watched the Oracle stride out the chamber before turning once more to the aurameres, and their hum of discontent

Will woke to a loud banging on the door, and the distinct smell of bacon coming from the kitchen.

"DEE! Get the door!" Lizzie's voice thundered through the apartment, and Will heard someone dash past her room. Quickly getting dressed, she headed down to the kitchen, where she found Lizzie and Laura.

"Morning Will. You're just in time for breakfast." Laura loaded up a plate and handed it to Will, who nodded, taking it and sitting down next to Lizzie.

"So, did you have a good night sleep?" Will nodded again, her mouth too full of bacon to answer. It felt like it'd been days since she'd last had anything to eat. Lizzie smiled and went back to her coffee, pausing as someone banged on the door again. "Who is it?" She called as Dee appeared in the doorway.

"Phobos. Shall I let him in?" Will suddenly started choking on her bacon.

"Yeah, but don't bring him in here yet." Dee disappeared, and Lizzie turned to Will, who was trying to get her breath back. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Will managed, before coughing again. Lizzie went and got her some water.

"Here." Lizzie sat down again as Will quietly drank. "So, what was that about?"

"Did Dee mean Phobos as in Prince Phobos, Elyon's brother?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Prince Phobos, in my universe is just about one of the biggest baddies we've come across. He took control of Meridian, sapping it's people of strength to gain more power for himself, he made peoples life there a misery and he tried to fool his little sister that he was good so he could drain all her powers for the rest of her life. We managed to stop him thanks to the rebellion. Oh, and recently he escaped from prison, wrecked the castle, then later when we got him to help us defeat another power hungry sorceress, he went back on his promise and tried to take over Candrakar."

"Oh right. Well that explains why you decided to breathe bacon- Take it from me, that never works." Will smiled. "So your Phobos, I take it he's not the nicest guy to be around in your world."

"Yeah."

"Then you'll be glad to hear that in this world, he's Elyon's younger brother, Captain of the Palace guard, and really quite good and friendly. Hell, he's Sarah's boyfriend, so you can't get friendlier than that." Will frowned trying to imagine a younger, nicer Phobos, and failing. "You can go and meet him in a bit, but before you do, you ought to tell us about the other enemies you've encountered, so we know who to warn you about and you don't end up breathing bacon again."

"Ok. Well, there's Phobos, and Cedric- Snake/ human shapeshifter. He was Phobos right hand man, but when Phobos took over Candrakar, Cedric swallowed him to get Phobos power. It was tough beating him. Then there was Nerissa, and her various tag alongs and creations. She wanted to gain all the Hearts, especially the Heart of Candrakar. She made life extremely difficult."

"Hmm. Cedric is a menace here as well- He created the rebellion against Elyon, and captured Phobos to use as a head for the rebellion. He managed to escape justice and keeps his head down, but we keep an eye out for him. We haven't heard of Nerissa though, who is she?"

"She was the leader of the last generation of guardians. She was corrupted by the power of the heart, and banished for killing one of her fellow team members. She wanted to destroy us, and rule everywhere, with her friends and family by her side. In the end, she was trapped by her own ambition."

"That would explain why we have had no trouble with Nerissa. Is that it?"

"There is another shapeshifter; Miranda- goes between a little girl and a spider. She teamed up with Cedric to plan their take over of Candrakar."

"We haven't heard of her. So Will, here all you need to worry about is Cedric, the Hag, and the occasional rogue group of Lurdens and disgruntled rebels. And now, you're gonna meet our Phobos. Come on."

Lizzie practically dragged Will out the kitchen to the sitting room.

"Hey Phobos, this is Will. She's the leader of the guardians from another universe and got dragged here by the Hag." Will winced, before she finally registered the teenager on the couch and did a double take.

That was Phobos? He looked like any other seventeen year old, in jeans and a white T-shirt, with his almost white blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He came over almost oozing with quiet confidence. This guy was cool. He had a nice smile too, and dazzling blue eyes…

"Will?" Lizzie's voice snapped her out of the moment. "Will, back in the land of the living, this is Phobos."

"Hi. So what's this I hear about me being the biggest meanest evil guy in your world?" Will blushed, and stumbled over her words.

"Ah, well… erm…"

"Don't worry about it. In this world, I help the guardians fight the forces of evil."

"Yah and you play tonsil hockey with our esteemed leader!" Phobos rolled his eyes at Lizzie's comment.

"Anyway, not much time for pleasantries. We have a situation, and need to go to my sister's palace at once, she's waiting for us." Phobos made a dramatic wave, opening a fold and suddenly they were in a huge circular room, with an extravagant pattern on the floor, a compass, and along part of the wall lay a map.

"I felt that something was wrong, but this confirms it. Guardians, where is your leader?" Will spun around to see who had joined them. An elegant lady with flowing blonde hair and a white dress stood inside the doorway. She knew instinctively that queenly would describe her perfectly, as it was clearly Queen Elyon who had just joined them; she looked like a slightly older version of the Elyon of her world, more mature, but still quite youthful. As soon as the doors closed, just leaving the seven of them in the room, Queen Elyon snapped her fingers, seeming to change into normal clothing. "Right, business. What happened?"

Will stood quietly as the girls began explaining what had happened, and trying to not look bothered every time Elyon glanced at her. After a bit Phobos broke away from the group and came over.

"Hey will. The girls are going to be a while, so do you want to go for a walk? See a bit more of my sisters lands instead of being cooped up in here."

"That'd be nice. I haven't seen much of anywhere yet."

"Understandable." They headed out, and after a bit found themselves wandering along the castle wall.

"Over there is the mill, the bakery is just next door. Also that huge building there is the brewery. Best cider I've ever had." Phobos grinned, and Will laughed.

"Does that include the earth ciders?"

"Yep. Oh, and over there, that huge hole in the edge of the forest is where the guardians defeated Cedrics rebellion." They both went quiet. "And just a bit further in is where I first met Sarah…" Phobos gazed into the distance, and Will hesitated, wondering whether to press him for more. "I was running away from Cedric, who had captured me and blackmailed me into being a figurehead for his rebellion. I came across Sarah, caught in the brambles whilst seeking shelter from Cedrics attacks. She'd been injured too, so I helped her and we escaped back to earth, where I looked after her, and in return she and the other guardians protected me from Cedric." There was a pause, both of them unsure what to say.

"You miss her, don't you?" Phobos nodded.

"And I can only hope the Hag hasn't done something terrible to her." Will bit her lip and looked away.

"Oh my god… They won't know what's happened."

"Who?"

"Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin."

"The other guardians?" Will nodded.

"And Matt, my mum, what if the Hag's gone after them?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Will." Will sighed, looking out to the horizon; not noticing Phobos put his arm around her and give her a comforting squeeze. "Come on, let's head back in." Will reluctantly turned with him.

Heading back into the room Will registered everyone looking at her expectantly.

"Hi Will…" Lizzie called out, and Will blinked, the room jumping a bit. "…Let's head back to Heatherfield."

A moment later they appeared in the middle of the park, five girls and Phobos. Will blinked a couple more times. _Something odd definitely happened back there, but what?_ She snapped out of it as she realised Lizzie was talking to her.

"Hey Will, you ready for a tour of Heatherfield?"

"Err yeah."

"In that case, I'm heading back to the apartment. I have math work to do." Iva turned and headed off.

"Still not in her good books?" The others shook their heads.

"Come on then, first stop, the mall."

* * *

Thank you for reading so far.


	7. Chapter 7

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Seven**

Lizzie stood back and watched a bit whilst Phobos pointed out various features. The park was its normal bustling self, but people still respectfully skirted around them. She sighed thinking back to what had happened at the castle. Closing her eyes she called Laura.

"_Should we have done that?"_

Laura replied quickly, knowing exactly what she was on about.

"_Yes. How else could we have found that out?"_

"_Maybe by asking her? A civilised approached?"_

"_She might have said no, or run away."_

"_That wouldn't have been a problem. Now we know exactly what she is, and Iva's worse than ever." _

"_That's Ivas' problem, and to be honest we should have done it when we first met her. Then …"_

"_Then we'd have had to do it again anyway. Also now that we've done it, it's a secret we have to hide from her. If she finds out it won't matter if we're both against the Hag. There won't be any trust."_

"_There isn't much even now. She's only with us because we're vaguely familiar and we're looking after her. She doesn't know whether to trust us or not. It must be like finding yourself in another country where you can only speak the language but you have nothing else."_

"_It's eerily familiar though. She's getting along only too well with Prince boy and she's only just met him."_

"_Yeah and when we saw…"_

"_Yeah. Blast from the past."_

There was a moments silence as the two gazed off into the distance.

"_Laura how did you feel when you saw…?"_

"_Honestly? I felt surprised. I felt a little bit relieved. And scared, really, very, scared."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah. Don't laugh."_

"_Don't be stupid. To be honest, so was I." _Laura glanced at Lizzie. _"I don't know what it is about that girl, but she scares me. Am I scared that she'll try and take over from Sarah? Am I scared because she might be a replacement for Sarah, and we'll never see Sarah again? Or am I scared because she's a different guardian, and change is something guardians prevent?"_

"_We only prevent bad change."_

"_But I don't know whether this change is for better or for worse."_

"_It doesn't matter. You've been doing well so far. You ought to take a rest. Bossing us around is hard work, even with a mouth as big as yours."_

"_Hey! But you're right. I need a break." _ Lizzie wandered over to Laura and handed her the heart. "Look after this; I'm going for a walk. _I'm going to Sarah mum's place. She needs to know what's happened. Take the heart and see what you can find with your telepathy; remember- caves! Also make sure Dee and Phobos look after Will, and that dinner's around 7- I'm probably gonna eat out. _See ya."

"Bye." Laura joined the others. "Hey Will, I don't know if Lizzie told you, but we've got school tomorrow, and you're joining us. We need to get you some stuff. Ok, we need to get you some stuff anyway, but we definitely need to get you some school stuff." Will groaned. "Don't worry; we actually have interesting lessons here. Chemistry for example, there's barely a lesson where we don't have a practical. Just the other day we made slime and bouncy balls." Dee joined them grinning.

"Yeah, it took ages to that slime ball Michael to get it out his oh so precious hair."

"And when you added a bit of bounce to the balls…"

"How many windows were left intact after that lesson?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they're considering putting bullet proof ones in."

Will smiled and laughed with them.

"We were all there, hiding under the tables, trying to avoid being hit. Miss said that soon we would try making paintball bullets- then test them."

Maybe school here wouldn't be as boring as normal.

Taranee stood in the middle of the road. No one was around. She closed her eyes and focused. There! No, it had gone again, and she could barely hear anything anyway. She tried several more times, getting nothing. Giving up that train of thought for the day she sighed and headed back towards the Silver Dragon. Apart from a quick trip to Meridian, nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing. The waiting would have been ok if she at least heard of a hint of Will. She sighed again and kept walking.

Back at the Silver Dragon Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin were trying to finish of their various homework's.

"Math! I hate it. All you really need to know is how much change you get from a bottle of pop and a sandwich. Where's T when you need her?" Irma exclaimed, dumping her book on the floor. Hay Lin looked up.

"That's a point, where is Taranee?"

Cornelia replied without taking her eyes of her handheld mirror.

"I think she went for a walk. She didn't say where."

"That's odd. She didn't even say bye." Irma sat up, taking interest.

"Yeah and she seemed a bit quiet today." Hay Lin smiled slightly.

"T's always quiet."

"She didn't once explain any complicated scientific fact. To be honest she seems distracted. Probably thinking about Will."

"Yeah, T tends to worry too much. I'm sure that wherever Will is, she can look after herself 'til we find her."

"Doesn't help that that hasn't got anywhere either." They all sighed. There was no point repeating that conversation for the hundredth time that day.

"T!" Hay Lin exclaimed as Taranee walked in. "Where you been?"

"Around, I needed some space to think."

"Think? You think too much girl, and worry too much. Relax sometime." Taranee glared at Irma.

"Says the girl who has spent the whole day just sitting on her backside watching TV? Obviously you don't care about Will, not bothering to even try and figure out where she is or find her. If you thought a bit more you might actually achieve something. Guardian of the Infinite dimensions? Guardian of the couch maybe. I've been busy trying to find Will, and if you cared so would you!" Taranee stepped back, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "Bye, I'll see you tomorrow." Shooting a final glare at Irma she stormed out.

"Definitely worrying too much. If the Oracle says the best thing to do is to wait, then we must wait. There's no point getting stressed."

"She does have a point though. We ought to try something." Hay Lin pointed out.

"Yeah, but it was a bit harsh for T to lash out like that. We need to stick together for this. Apologies are in order, from both sides." Cornelia held up her hand to silence Irma's protests. "Try speaking to her tomorrow; get her to talk about what she's bottling up. We need to stick together, and that means no walking off on your own to random places- the Hag's still out there."

The other two girls nodded and the headed home, this time with Cornelia in charge of the Heart.

Will climbed into the bed with a yawn. It had been a long busy day, with Meridian and then shopping and the tour of Heatherfield, and she had school tomorrow. Something resembling a normal life. She stifled a laugh at the thought. Heck, it could even be more normal than at her Heatherfield. She gazed at the alarm clock on the table, set to ring for 7:00 am. Suddenly a thought struck her; it was quiet. She reached out to pick it up, and suddenly feeling self conscious said hello to it. Silence. After a moment or two she put it back, contemplating what it meant. And it wasn't good.


	8. Chapter 8

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Eight**

Everything had gone well so far, Will thought as she listened to see if she could hear anyone else. The whole town seemed to know of the guardians, and it had help keep away the typical bullies and unfriendliness she'd come to expect with any new school. Certainly the lessons themselves had kept them on their toes. In maths, they had left the classroom and gone around town using Pythagoras and trig to measure the heights of trees and buildings. In science they had a competition to see who could build the best rocket and now they had sport for the rest of the day, which could only be described as a large scale game of Tag, or hide and seek, with Laura, Iva, Dee and Lizzie as the searchers. And they were in guardian form. Will peered through the branches of the tree she was in, spotting the four girls swooping down behind the bushes on the other side of the field, a couple of shrieks indicating that they'd caught some people. Sure enough a bunch of teenagers slouched out and headed back to base, and the guardians were hunting again. No elements allowed. Keep inside the school boundaries, and don't disrupt staff or ongoing lessons. Don't hide in the toilets. If you hide in an empty classroom, at least one window had to be fully open. They all were. Will watched as the four girls flew round the other end of the school, then she rolled out the tree and dashed for the entrance.

A minute or two later the guardians came round the school, searching the small copse. No one was there.

Will found an empty classroom at the back of the school, a couple of floors up, looking round she nipped into the storage cupboard, shutting it behind her. She waited a while, and was contemplating venturing out when she heard footsteps in the classroom. No one had opened the door, so it must be one of the guardians. Will crouched down and looked through the keyhole. It was Iva. Will kept quiet and waited for her to leave. After a while when she hadn't heard anything, she checked the keyhole again. No one was there. Cautiously she opened the door and came out, checking the classroom. No one there. Will went over the window to see if she could see the guardians. She couldn't, and figured they were still searching the front of the school. She turned to head out.

"You're caught." Will stayed quiet, trying not to glare at Iva, who was just casually sitting on a desk, hiding a smirk. "When you head back to base tell Miss that the class can have an early warm down. After school meet Phobos by the gate and he'll take you home. We'll see you there." Iva sauntered past Will to the window. "Too easy, I expected better." Iva gave a snort of derision then flew off, leaving Will by herself.

You didn't leave did you Iva? Will thought to herself. No elements allowed. That means all your powers Iva you little cheat. She stood there glaring after her for a bit fuming inside. When Iva had gone out of view she sighed and headed down.

She didn't see the guardians until after dinner that night. She was just heading to bed when they flew in, laughing and joking.

"Remember when they all dropped their weapons and tried to start…"

"Hey Lizzie, I don't want to know what your misshapen mind persuaded them to do, but it wasn't pretty."

"But it stopped the attack."

"True and when Iva just appeared in front of those men, I thought they were going to have simultaneous heart attacks."

"But the mud mill was the best."

"Oh yeah. Best ever way to stop a horde of rebels charging at ya…" They caught sight of Will. "Oh, hi Will." Will gave them a small smile and disappeared into her room.

Will leant against the door and listened to them head into the kitchen. They had gone and done that sort of thing without her. Will was slightly annoyed. But then again, she thought, they weren't her guardians, and she wasn't their leader. It was just one of those things she had to get used to. Two days, two days since she'd last seen her friends. She wondered how they were coping. Ambling over to the window, she gazed out at the city, then up at the stars. Even they were different, although she had never been hot on astronomy. Another night rolling round, and still no way home.

Taranee hadn't bothered to stay at the Silver Dragon that evening. It felt stifling, and was too quiet. Waiting didn't suit them and they all knew it. Taranee sighed. Even if she was trying something that might not get anywhere, it was still something. She paused in the park, realising she was where they had spent that afternoon, laughing and relaxing. She sighed, and paused, hearing a scuffle in the bushes.

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!" _

Cornelia leapt backwards clutching her head, her ears ringing with the force of the shout. When she looked again, Taranee had gone. Looking round with disappointment, she turned and headed back to the Silver Dragon.

"So what happened?" Hay Lin enquired as she descended into the basement. Cornelia dumped herself on the sofa next to Matt and Napoleon.

"She headed to the park and then she spotted me, caught me by surprise."

"Yeah, we heard." Irma winced. "For a quiet girl, she can't half yell loud."

"Anyway, after I recovered from the shock she'd disappeared."

"What? And you didn't go after her?!" Irma exclaimed. "You know we need to stick together."

"I came back here because two people out separately on their own is worse than only one. And Taranee can use her telepathy to contact us if she's in trouble. To be honest…"

"It shouldn't matter. Everything's been quiet. If she stays away from that street, the only place we've seen the Witch, it should be fine." Hay Lin pointed out. "So how's it going in the cover for Will whilst she's gone section?" Matt sighed.

"Well, I'm down with an illness, so Huggles and occasionally Napoleon is covering for me, and I'm masquerading as Will. It's ok for school, as I'm in the most the classes she's in, and I've kindly been taking notes for poor ill Matt…"

"Ok so that's sorted. What about your band?"

"They're managing fine. There's this kid I know who's standing in for me for a bit."

"Fair enough." Cornelia spoke up.

"Oh, Napoleon? You might want to head home; Lillian was getting worried about you. You know what that means."

"Thanks Doll. Here comes yet another hug fest. Ciao." Napoleon turned tail and climbed out the window. Matt looked around.

"It's getting late. I ought to head off."

"Ok then, see you tomorrow." Irma got up and headed for the door, closely followed by Cornelia.

"Me too."

"And me. We'll try to talk to Taranee tomorrow then."

"Oh, and don't forget, it's Irmas turn to look after the Heart."

"You sure you want me to take care of it? My brother will probably try to nick it."

"If I can keep it away from my little sibling, you can keep it away from yours, now let's go. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Taranee stood quietly in the middle of the street, once again focusing, trying to get that little whisper. After half an hour trying, she had nothing. She let out a yell of frustration. Two dull uninteresting days, where they had nothing better to do than wait. No news, no action, and no Will. Resigned, she turned to head home, stopping as she heard a faint whisper. Listening intently she tried to catch it again. Nothing. Maybe it had just been the wind, she thought as it tossed her hair across her face. She suddenly realised how cold it was, and it made her decision. She turned and headed home, with nothing to look forward to but another dull, uninteresting school day.

* * *

:-D And we all know what another dull uninteresting school day means...


	9. Chapter 9

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing.

Actually a huge thank you to XV-Dragon for being such a loyal reviewer :-D

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Nine**

Sarah pressed herself up against the magical barrier.

"You can't!" The Hag glanced up from adjusting the machine, and wandered over.

"Oh can't I? It's not like you can stop me. My power has reached a peak, and I will go divide and destroy the guardians, all helpless without their esteemed leader…" The Hag cackled at Sarah threw herself at the barrier with a growl. "You never know, I might bring back a shard of that little gem of yours, a souvenir." The Hag tutted as Sarah let out a stream of colourful curses. "Now now, mind your language. You wouldn't want to be insulting your host would you?" Sarah stepped back and glared. "That's better. Just a few more hours before my visit…"

Taranee sighed, blanking out the babble from the rest of the class, trying to focus on the experiment in front of her, adding another weight to the string. She was thinking about Will again, reliving what had happened in her mind. The park, the heart, the hag the fight, the girl, the disappearance, the wait. Odd things: the heart was left, they couldn't figure the source of the witches' power, the ghost like figures, the oracle not being able to see, the likeness between the witch and Nerissa, the heart unable to see Will, the voices. Taranee knew it was all linked somehow, but she felt like she was missing something, something right in front of her… She almost fell off the chair trying to catch the improvised scales before it hit the floor, and dumped it back on the desk with a huff, carefully setting it up again, to take a fresh set of recordings.

After school, Taranee didn't wait for the others, shoving the Heart in her pocket and walking straight towards the park, ignoring the clouds gathering overhead. Cornelia watched her back disappearing into the distance.

"Where are you going T?" she murmured to herself, pausing only a moment before following, glancing up at the thick grey clouds. She shivered. A storm was coming. As they got to the park heavy raindrops began to fall.

"Ah, my hair's gonna be ruined. Someone seriously owes me." There was a pause as she lost sight of her friend, before she took a guess, and headed towards where Will had gone missing. Sure enough she caught a glimpse of Taranee working her way along the roads to the estate.

Will was bored. School hadn't been as interesting today and a couple of minutes ago a guy had rapped on the door telling the guardians of a disturbance at some construction yard, and they had all gone off, leaving Will alone in the apartment, with nothing to do. She tried the front door, and to her surprise, it was open. She headed out. Nothing wrong with a walk around the local park and a breath of fresh air, she decided and headed down.

After a while she found herself heading round the city, in a place she didn't know. Then again, she didn't know most of the city. She was wondering why she had decided to come to this bit of town when a pink glint in a bush by the edge of the path caught her eye. She crouched down to see what it was and gasped. It was the Heart. Iva must have dropped it, she thought, picking it up and looking around to see where they had gone, ignoring how the heart seemed to pulse happily in her hand. She looked at the Heart.

"Where are they?" The Heart stayed silent, but a hug flash by some cranes and incomplete tower blocks caught her attention and she started running towards it.

Meanwhile the guardians had reached the construction site, and Iva went to retrieve the Heart from her pack. She spotted the partly open zip, and searched the bag, becoming more frantic as she realised the Heart wasn't there. Dee called across.

"Iva what is it?"

"The Heart, it's not here."

"What!" Lizzie exclaimed overhearing this, and tensing up.

"I definitely had it when we left the apartment, it… it must have fallen out on the way here. I'm sorry." They all looked at each other in fear realising how much trouble they were in, Iva close to tears.

"Oh! Four guardians, leaderless and without their precious Heart! Ah, this is too easy!" The Guardians turned around to see the Hag walking towards them. With a yell Lizzie launched herself at the Hag, closely followed by Dee and Laura. Before she even got close the Hag made a sweeping gesture, send her crashing into a nearby skip, and Dee into a pile of what looked like plastic piping. Laura jumped up from the floor, where she'd dropped down to avoid the Hags attack, and launched at the Hag, before being sent flying across the yard.

"Is that al... oof!" The Hag staggered forward as someone hit her, before turning around and blasting thin air, Iva suddenly becoming visible mid flight before she was pinned against the building , partially stunned by the impact. The Hag observed her work. Lizzie picking herself out the skip, Dee scrabbling to escape from the mass of pipes, Laura slowly getting to her feet, and Iva, stuck by her magic against a girder, high above all their heads.

"You've already lost guardians." The Hag smiled, savouring the moment.

"OI HAG!" The Hag spun around and stared in shock at the red haired girl standing at the entrance of the site, holding aloft a clenched hand from which a bright pink glow emanated.

"You! No!" The Hag shrieked, but it was too late as the shout echoed off the half constructed buildings.

"GUARDIANS UNITE!"

* * *

:-P Normally I don't ask for reviews, but I'd like to know your thoughts so far. :-)


	10. Chapter 10

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Ten**

High above the clouds in the fortress of Candrakar, the Oracle was quietly walking along, when a pink glow passed through the walls. The Oracle frowned. It was most unusual, yet it seemed to cause no damage… Then the whole place shook, ravaged by a fierce earthquake, with dust and masonry falling all around and huge groans of shifting stones pounded through the structure. The Oracle leant against the wall and focused hard, and after a while the shakes died down, and Candrakar settled again. Having a brief meditation, he assessed the damage- not too bad to endanger movement around the place, with only the occasional block of stone down. He set off, heading towards the aurameres.

The storm had well and truly broken over Heatherfield, the clouds so thick and dark that even the streetlamps were turning on. Occasional flashes lit up the street, but Taranee ignored them and the heavy beat of the rain, instead reaching out with her mind, searching once more for the voices.

And she heard something. Not quite a babble, but she could understand it. And it wasn't Will, or anyone she'd met.

"_Ohgodsomeonehelpmeshe's…"_

Taranee opened her eyes in surprise, just in time to see the brown haired girl from a few days ago appear in the middle of the air and fall backwards onto the road, landing with a loud wet thump. Taranee stood in shock, and barley registered the footsteps of someone running up the road. Cornelia slid to a stop at Taranees side, standing soaking in the rain, her eyes fixed on the figure on the ground.

"Oh my god!"

Sarah snapped open her eyes at the sound of someone's voice. She wasn't in a cave. She _was_ lying on something cold, wet and unforgiving, but it was tarmac, oh and there was a thunderstorm. And rain. She groaned as the whole of her backside ached. Maybe it would've been better if she _had_ been hit by the Hag. Then again... She summoned up the energy to roll over out of the puddle, and she saw the two girls for the first time. No wait; she'd seen them when they were fighting the Hag. The Hag, wait…

Taranee and Cornelia leapt back as Sarah jumped up, desperately looking around.

"The Hag! Where's the Hag?" Cornelia and Taranee looked at each other in confusion, before Taranee spoke up, almost shouting to be heard over the storm.

"What, the Witch person?" Sarah stopped spinning around and looked at her as if she was dull.

"Yes, the Hag!"

"Well, we last saw her when you rugby tackled her and Will disappeared." Sarah paused, frowning.

"Will? Err, red haired girl about the same age as me, maybe a bit shorter?"

"Yeah! Have you seen her?"

"Mmm I saw her for a few moments when I first appeared in the Hags' cave, but then she disappeared."

"Oh." Taranee paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Sarah, leader of the guardians. Now, where am I?"

"Err…" They glanced at each other again, confused. "Erm…"

"_Taranee are you with Cornelia?" _Taranee jumped as she finally heard Irma.

"_Yeah, why?" _ Irma quickly replied.

"_We've just been summoned to Candrakar, and you better come quickly."_

"_Erm, ok… Is it ok if we bring a friend?"_

"_What sort of friend?"_

"_You know that brown haired girl who tackled the Hag- that's what that witch is called by the way- well I am up at the housing development, and she appeared out of thin air, real as you and me. Oh, and her name's Sarah and she says she's the leader of the guardians."_

"_What?! Oh never mind, just bring her along. Oh, and check your fold before you head through. Make sure there's something to land on."_

"Right." Taranee turned to look at Cornelia and Sarah. "Sarah, I don't know how to say this, but this is Heatherfield, and we're where the Hag attacked about three days ago. And erm, me Cornelia, Irma and Hay Lin, who you're gonna meet soon, plus Will, we are the guardians of the Infinite dimensions."

"Yeah," Cornelia added "Heart and all."

"I've not been sent back in time have I?" Sarah paused and gestured at the houses. "In… the other Heatherfield, my Heatherfield these houses were old and run down not…" Sarah gestured trying to find the word.

"Your Heatherfield?"

"Yeah."

A flash of lightning hitting one of the houses snapped them back to the present, with the thunder rolling loud and instantly. Debris was scattered and the house was burning, heavy rain doing nothing to dampen it down.

"Cornelia," Taranee shouted, almost drowned out by another boom of thunder. "We need to get out of here, NOW!" Cornelia nodded.

"You've got the Heart."

"Oh yeah." Taranee pulled it out her pocket and made a fold, and started stepping through when Sarah pulled her back.

"Look." She pointed at the fortress in the distance, which looked battered and as if it was sinking through the clouds.

"What? It's moved." Taranee made another fold, leading them straight to the council chambers, where they saw Hay Lin and Irma helping various council members to tidy up the debris, and Cornelia was soon busy helping them. Taranee stood and gazed around in surprise. "What happened here?" Taranee turned to Sarah. "Look, I'm sorry but I need to find out what's happened. Do you mind waiting?" Sarah nodded, and absentmindedly wandered over to the tiered seating and watched the guardians help. Sarah bit her lip as she looked at the fallen stones of a mighty fortress. She'd almost certainly gone back in time, and yet they didn't know… But they weren't… Will wasn't… A distant rumble snapped her back to reality and she scrambled up to the top and looked out the window. In the distance a gray line of clouds showed, but didn't get any closer. Sarah smiled and let out a bitter laugh.

"Every time." She stayed there gazing out and watching the clouds light up from within, and every time it was followed by a rumble. Eventually.

"Ah hem." Sarah turned around to see that the room was now empty apart from a bald guy who was looking at her with interest. "You are Sarah?" Sarah nodded; wondering what was coming next, and was a little unnerved that nothing did. He just stood there studying her.

"What do you want?" She snapped, trying to break the uneasy silence. The guy raised his head in acknowledgment.

"Ah, a leader!"

"Wha…?"

"You have a task… I cannot see what. You wish to rejoin with your friends, but it will be some time before you can do so." Sarah looked downcast at this. "You are in a strange world, but the guardians will look after you, and you look after them. Tell them about your world, so the differences are shown before err is made."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I am the Oracle of Candrakar." Sarah gasped.

"No…"

"And Sarah, know this; Not backwards, sideward's." The Oracle turned and left the room, leaving Sarah standing there, in shock, tears streaming down her face.

The Guardians were standing with the Aurameres, waiting for the Oracle to return. Luba stood at guard, her arm now in a sling.

"Guardians." They spun round to face the Oracle. "I have met Sarah. Quite interesting, and it answers many questions. Who did she say attacked you?"

"Well she called her 'The Hag'. Does it mean something?" Taranee piped up. The Oracle just stood there, ignoring Lubas' intense gaze.

"The Hag…" Oracle muttered to himself in disbelief, before addressing the guardians. "You must look after Sarah, and enquire about her world: this may let you know about Will. But, you must give her the Heart."

"What!"

"Girls! She must become leader of the Heart whilst Will is gone, especially with the Hag around. I understand it won't be easy, but the aurameres need stability."

"So you're saying we either give Sarah the Heart and let her become our leader or Candrakar gets more earthquakes?" Irma clarified "A girl who we don't know, who claims to be leader of the guardians, which she's not, a girl who appeared out of nowhere is to be our new leader." Irma looked at the Oracle, who held her gaze, before nodding.

"It is of the utmost importance to do so. Please, you must give her the heart."

The guardians stood there. The Oracle was pleading with them? They glanced at each other anxiously.

"Fine, but we still don't know her. Do we have to give her the heart straight away?"

The Oracle paused before replying.

"Ideally. But you have a short time to get to know her before you must give her the heart."

"'Kay then. The other thing is: are you still going to look for Will, try to figure a way of getting her back?"

"I will."

The guardians relaxed a tiny bit and then turned and left the room, the Oracle gazing after them.

"The Hag!" Luba hissed behind him. "Oracle you cannot…"

"Lube I am fully aware of the implications. In the meantime you are not to worry the guardians. They have enough to deal with." Luba growled in annoyance before fixing her glare on the aurameres. Already the pink orb had grown the tiniest of fractions.

* * *

Ok, next chapter it's the other side's transformations, so here's my little quiz: who's what?


	11. Chapter 11

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

Thank you XV-Dragon, cartoonloverfan101, GxYu5598 and Rain on Roses for reviewing so far.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Echoes of Our Worlds**

**Chapter Eleven**

"GUARDIANS UNITE!" Will felt the hearts power flowing out, five thick coloured bands connecting the guardians.

A light blue band reached out to Iva, catching her as she fell away and spinning her, catching herself in her guardian form, pink, long sleeved top with short green shorts and alternating purple and green striped tights that clashed with her spiky blue hair. She yelled out amid the rush.

"Ice!"

A brick red band reached out to where Laura lay, lifting her up and changing her to her guardian form, a short sleeveless pink top coupled with pink trousers, which revealed an ugly purple scar stretching across her stomach. But still she remained strong, catching herself in a fighting stance; fists clenched with a thick red glow forming around them. She shouted out, an unseen anger rolling in her normally quiet voice.

"Lava!"

A pale yellow band snaked towards Dee, crashing through the pipes before lifting her clear, and spinning her into her guardian form- a long flowing green skirt coupled with a pink top and a green scarf. She paused holding her fist clenched in front of her before letting what looked like sand pour out of it, only whispering her power though it was heard as clearly as the others.

"Dust…"

A sludge coloured band dove towards the skip Lizzie had landed in, surrounding her and changing her into guardian form- purple and green leggings with a green top. Thick balls of mud formed around her clenched wrists and she yelled out.

"Swamp!"

Will was so stunned by the others transformations she barely noticed her own 'til she found herself shouting.

"Quintessence!"

The glow of the heart faded and one by one they landed in the centre of the yard. No one needed to point out that the hag had gone.

The Hag lay on all fours back in her cave. How?! How had it gone so wrong? Everything was so mixed, the red haired one here. That gave the guardians power. If only they'd kept their interfering noses out! The Hag leapt up with a growl.

"I should have taken the Heart when I could. Then there wouldn't be any more interference after the Oracle." The Hag yelled, sending out a jet of magic that crashed into the wall, creating a spider's web of cracks. She stood there gazing at the cracks then at the machine. She sent a second bolt into the machine, sending bits flying. She stumbled back as one piece bounced off a quickly constructed shield. She paused, calming down. She did not need to make any more mistakes, and she wandered over to the machine and started to repair some of the damage, wrestling off deformed limbs, and replacing them with polished new ones. She kept quiet whilst she worked, but slowly a plan formed in her head.

She took a couple of steps back, review the machine, and the plan. A smirk crawled onto her face, widening into a crevasse that let out a sharp cackle that mutated and charged round the cavern, a chilling sound that surprised even the Hag, but only for a moment. She smiled to herself. Maybe it was best that those mistakes had occurred. It would take a while, but those witches would regret crossing the Hag. There was a good phrase that would cover what she planned; she frowned as she tried to sift through all her memories of years ago when she lived on Meridian.

She turned and with a quick burst of magic scrawled something onto the cave wall.

12 birds with one stone.

She glanced around her.

"Not quite a stone but who'll stop me?"

Back at the construction site they all stood in guardian form, looking at each other. Will looked at Iva, Laura, Dee and Lizzie in turn, and they all looked at her, with an awkward silence growing between them. Dee plucked up the courage to speak first.

"What's Quintessence?" Will looked at Dee in surprise, before answering with a question of her own.

"Why aren't your powers plain elements, and why don't you know about quintessence?" Will sighed. "Never mind that for the moment, you're lucky I came across the Heart when I did. How'd you even drop it?"

They all looked at Iva. She shuffled a bit, clearly nervous.

"When I had the Heart at first, it was fine. I put it in the pack; it'd stay in the pack. But then after… Sorry Will, in Meridian we touched you with the Heart- We had to see what you were."

"And?"

"We saw you in guardian form, a leader and one who was stronger than Sarah. To be honest we were a bit scared."

"What?!" Will exclaimed. Iva fell silent, staring at the ground, so Lizzie spoke up.

"Will, you got to think about it from our point of view: A new guardian, someone we don't know and who could so easily take control of us, and not necessarily for good either- We were scared, so we kept you closely guarded. And we kept you away from the Heart." Will nodded. She'd done the same.

"But after Meridian," Iva continued "The Heart was drawn to you, like it knew you were the leader. That's how I knew you were hiding in that classroom. Anyway although it had been acting weird, it hadn't tried to escape before. It caught me off guard."

They paused for a moment, and then Dee spoke up.

"Well I know you said it was lucky you found the Heart, but it might not be. How'd you get out the apartment?"

"The door was unlocked and I needed a walk."

"Even though I locked it. Where were you going?"

"Anywhere really, I was just exploring when I found it." Dee looked at Will pointedly. "Oh. Err; you guys should have it back." Will reached for the Heart.

"No." They said in unison before Lizzie continued. "Will, you should look after it, as leader. Just, please don't go psycho on us." Will smiled.

"Ok, then- But I doubt I'd go psycho."

"Yea, she just saved ours butts and she hates the Hag too." Iva put in. Will looked at her in surprise, and she smiled.

"Yep we all hate the Hag." Dee quipped.

"It's starting to sound like a club." Laura moaned.

"Had problems with some old sorceress ruining your lives? Need a place to vent your anger? Have you suffered thanks to the Hag? Join We all Hate the Hag today and get a free pen!" Lizzie held her serious face for barley a moment before they all burst out laughing. "Ok guys come on. It's late and we need to get back. We can stop off round the pizza place one the way." They all agreed and started the long walk back to the apartment, before Will stopped.

"Guys," the others turned around "We're still in guardian form, couldn't we fly?"

They looked at each other sheepishly before taking off and continuing towards the flats, at a much faster pace, Laura peeling off to get the pizza and Lizzie taking a quick detour to the bottom of the lake in the park, returning with a cooler box of pop. Watching the other guardians dive through the window, Will suddenly thought of something.

"Guys…"

A loud shriek came from inside, and Will dove in.


	12. Chapter 12

Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Set on the TV series, after season two.

* * *

I.T.C.H wandered into the council chamber to find Sarah slumped against the open windows on the top tiers, crying. They looked at each other in complete silence, unnoticed. When it became clear that they all had a reluctance to go and talk to the girl, Cornelia gave the smallest of huffs, and made her way up towards her.

"Hey, Sarah. It is Sarah isn't it?" She glanced around and registered Cornelia and the three guardians further down, then nodded. "I'm Cornelia. Sorry we sort of abandoned you like that." There was a pause, and Sarah looked away again, sporting a fresh wave of tears. "Erm, we're done here, got some advice, and the Oracle- I think you've met him- weird bald guy?" Sarah glanced around and glared at the name. "That's a yes then. Well he said you should come stay with us guardians while we sort this all out. We need to head back to Earth now, talk, try to work things out. And eat. Are you hungry?" A nod, then another, more definite nod.

"Very hungry. How long has it been since the Hag?"

"Nearly three days, why?"

"Three days…" Sarah stood up and moved down to where Cornelia was. "Okay, I'll come with you guys, after all, there's nowhere else for me to go."

They appeared through the fold into the basement of the Silver Dragon, Hay Lin disappearing upstairs to find her Gran, and the others immediately flopping down on the seats. There was a silence, and Sarah fidgeted under the stare from the Brown haired girl.

"_Irma! Stop treating the girl like a zoo animal!"_

"_What do you expect me to do?"_

"_Talk to her. Maybe if we get to know her a bit, we can work together."_

"_She's not replacing Will. I won't let that happen."_

"_I didn't mean it like that! She won't be replacing Will, just helping out whilst we work out how to get her back."_

Hay Lin thankfully interrupted by bursting through the door and almost falling down the stairs into the basement, along with her armful of cutlery and food. Cornelia quickly flung out a hand a caught the bowls, carefully guiding them all safely to the table whilst Hay Lin Floated back down.

"Whew! That was close. Well, grubs up! Oh! I forgot to ask! Sarah, do you like chicken soup? I mean you're not a vegetarian or anything?"

"No…"

"Oh, that's good; well, my Gran is happy to cook up some more if we finish it off, so tuck in. I'm Hay Lin by the way."

"Mmmm," Sarah quickly swallowed a mouthful of soup. "Hi." Her eyes began to water.

"Are you okay?"

"I think I just burnt my tongue." Hay Lin poured her a glass of water, which she gulped down. "Thanks, the soup's nice."

"Yay! Whilst you're tucking into the rest of that, we haven't introduced ourselves. You know me and Cornelia, and you were found by Taranee…"

"Hi."

"Which just leaves Irma here."

"Hi."

The door banged open again, revealing Matt, who glanced around, taking in the extra person before speaking out.

"Trouble?"

"Candrakar." Irma gave a quick flick of her wrist, and a pile of water splashed from Matt, who'd been sodden by the rain. "There was some sort of Earthquake, lots of damage, and it's literally fallen through the sky."

"Okay. Who's the new girl?"

"Matt, this is Sarah, she was the ghost like girl we saw who took out the Hag."

"And she's seen Will, and is apparently a Guardian. You've come in time. We're going to try and work out what the hell is happening here." Cornelia sighed.

Matt focused on Sarah.

"Oh and Sarah," Cornelia called over, "This is Matt. He's a good friend of ours, a regent of Earth and is Wills boyfriend."

"Hey, nice job with the Hag." Sarah smiled briefly, and looked down, uncertain how to answer. "You saw Will."

"Yes. Well, sort of. She was in the cave with the Hag, and me. I was trapped at this point, and she was lying in the corner, looking like a ghost. Then she disappeared." Taranee picked up the thread.

"So how long is this after you got the Hag and you three disappeared?"

"A few minutes. She might have been there for the whole time, but I was a bit preoccupied."

"The Hag? You said she trapped you, how did you escape?"

"Wait!" Irma cut in, "What happened to Will?"

"She just disappeared a few moments after I spotted her. Where she might be… Well, if I'm here…"

"Then she's wherever you should be." Taranee finished off.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Matt asked.

"Good if she's being looked after by my friends. Bad if she isn't. Bad that it's not a place you can just jump to. I think even the Hag isn't completely sure how she gets between the two, and from what I saw, it's difficult and takes time to even make one journey." Sarah closed her eyes, remembering back to the cave. "There was a machine, which is what I think lets her travel. It seemed pretty quite, but after a couple of days being there, she seemed to get it powered up enough for a journey. She was setting it all up before she left, not for here, but my place. Before she left, She tried to kill me. Zap! But all that morning I'd been having flashes of the street and my hands kept turning translucent. I thought I was hallucinating. But when she sent that bolt, it hit the magical bars, and was all around me, crackling, throwing me back, painful, but it had enough energy to finish it off, and bring me here."

"You were calling out telepathically. I heard you." Sarah looked at Taranee.

"I think I heard you too. I think there was a connection of some sort, gave me something to focus on to get away from the attack. It probably saved me. Thank you."

Everyone sat taking in what they'd heard, the silence broken from an unintentional yawn from Irma, who blinked in surprise.

"Well, we know more than we did, although there is much more to be asked. It's getting late, and I'm sure we all need to rest." Taranee looked around. "I think You'll be staying here with Hay for the next few nights Sarah, whilst we sort things out." At that point Yan Lin decided to enter, laden with sheets for bedding.

"You've been hired as a helper. So you'll work here, and be fed and boarded here too. We don't have a spare room upstairs so, you'll have to make do down here. Right girls, clear out. I'm sure our guest is tired." One by one they nodded and left, glancing outside at the poor weather before conveniently sticking near Irma as they went. Soon only Hay Lin, her Gran and Sarah were left.

"Don't worry about getting up early tomorrow. You're tired, and we're all at school anyway. If you need anything you'll find Gran upstairs. And that includes food. Night!"

"Night." Everything was dark now. Sarah sat there for a few moments, thinking things through, understanding. Just thinking about it filled her eyes slowly up with tears, which she quickly blinked away, ignoring the trickle down her cheek, grabbing the duvet, rolling over, and falling asleep.


End file.
